


Forever's A Good Place To Start

by Brenda



Series: The Last Boyfriend [3]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Adorkable Boys Are Adorkable, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, POV Steve Rogers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 12:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13235949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brenda/pseuds/Brenda
Summary: Exactly one year after Bucky and Steve's first meeting at Gregory's Coffee, Bucky keeps his promise.AKA, the fluffy proposal fic that everyone voted for on Tumblr. :D





	Forever's A Good Place To Start

If there was a better way to wake up in the morning than in Bucky's warm embrace, Steve had yet to find it. The curtains were slightly parted to reveal a winter-grey sky, the clouds overhead threatening sleet or snow (Steve hoped it was the latter – the holidays weren't the holidays without snow angels and clumsily built snowmen), and he could hear the hissing wail of the wind if he concentrated. Winter had come with a vengeance for New York, but here in the cozy Brooklyn apartment Steve now shared with Bucky, snuggled into the arms holding him close, it felt like summer never ended.

He breathed Bucky in, nuzzling the soft skin where his neck and shoulder met. "You're gonna have to let me up at some point, you know," he murmured, smiling when Bucky just grunted and inched forward even deeper into Steve's space, their chests and thighs and groins pressed tight together. He shivered a little, small currents of desire flickering into life at Bucky's touch.

"Don't see you trying too hard to get away," Bucky replied, and lolled his head on his pillow to give Steve a sleepy, yet totally rakish, smile. His hair was tousled delightfully over his face and his sharp cheekbones were dusted with stubble and those gorgeous eyes were half-lidded and satisfied; he was still, even after a year of familiarity and constant proximity, the most beautiful person Steve had ever seen. Still a masterpiece that Steve would happily spend his life trying to recreate with his pencils and brushes.

Most days, Steve couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, awkward and tongue-tied and lost in his own head most of the time, with zero game and resigned to a life surrounded by good friends and his work, and he'd somehow – by some miracle – managed to snag the attention and love of the best-looking and most amazing man in all of New York. Actually, Bucky was the most amazing man in all the world, as far as Steve was concerned.

He smiled, tracing light patterns along Bucky's spine. "Wouldn't have asked you to move in with me if I wanted to get away." He couldn't believe Bucky had said yes, either. That Bucky's things were now mingled with his own, from their respective comics collections to their books and clothes and even kitchen appliances. They shared a bed, a home, a _life_ , and Steve wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the rightness of it all.

"True, you did," Bucky said, his look so soft and devoted that it lit Steve up from the inside. 

They both leaned in at the same time, drawn together, and their lips touched, electric and sweet and unhurried. Bucky rolled so he was cradled in the vee of Steve's thighs, the sheets and quilt pushed down as they slid against each other, slotting together so perfectly it was like they were one person in two bodies, cast from the same mold. Steve ran his hands along Bucky's back, felt the ripple of muscle under his palms, the strength that was so much a part of the man he loved. He tipped his head back as Bucky's lips moved to his throat, his teeth nipping and tasting, each scrape sending another pleasant shock through his system.

"We're gonna be late," Steve gasped, shifting as Bucky started to move down, every kiss a brand, mapping Steve's body with the scrape of his teeth and the soft slide of his lips. 

Bucky just smirked up at him from where his clever tongue was flicking out to tease Steve's abs. "Your point?"

"Uh, I...yeah, okay," Steve sighed, as Bucky moved lower and lower, his breath ghosting over the sensitive head of Steve's cock before equally clever lips closed over him. Steve just tangled his hands in Bucky's hair, threading through the silky strands, as he gave himself over to Bucky's expert and very thorough ministrations.

The world outside could wait just a little longer.

***

Steve had wanted to stay in bed all day, but it was the weekend before Christmas, which meant his annual shopping excursion with Peggy. And, not even the temptation of a day spent in pleasure with Bucky was enough to offset the promise of Peggy's wrath if Steve ditched her. He'd felt bad enough pushing their shopping trip from their usual Saturday to Sunday, but he and Bucky had wanted to celebrate their one-year anniversary at _Daniel_ , and, ironically enough, the only date they could get reservations was yesterday, the day _before_ their actual anniversary. But postponing the shopping date had been well worth it – last night had been like something out of a dream. But then, that was pretty much how Steve always felt around Bucky – like he was living in some modern fairy tale.

It took them another hour to roll out of bed, but they finally made their way out of the apartment and across the river into Midtown. They were both dressed for the frigid weather, in jeans and boots and cozy sweaters, with knee-length pea coats. Bucky was wearing his favorite pom-pom ski cap, a slate blue that exactly matched his eyes; somehow he made it look sexy instead of ridiculous. But that was Bucky all over, Steve thought. He made everything look good, without even trying.

"Remind me why we couldn't just have gotten coffee at home," Steve asked, around a yawn, as he and Bucky found their way to the Gregory's on 49th. It was just as crowded as ever, the line snaking through the store and almost out the doors, but everyone seemed pretty good-natured about the long wait for once. Steve put it down to that special magic that was the holiday season.

Bucky just squeezed his hand and bussed his cheek, his lips catching on Steve's bristles. "Because coming to this Gregory's is tradition," he said, with a boyish smile. "And who am I to mess with tradition?"

"Yeah, it's tradition. With Peggy," Steve reminded him. "She's not even here yet." Which was a little weird, since she was disgustingly punctual in all things, but maybe her train had gotten delayed. It would be way too much of a Christmas miracle to expect the subway system to work properly, but that was also part of its charm. Steve wasn't sure what people would have to talk about with strangers if it wasn't bitching about the MTA.

And honestly, he shouldn't grumble too much about Bucky's insistence that they meet Peggy and Nat here instead of someplace less crowded. This was, after all, the same Gregory's where he and Bucky had first met, exactly a year ago. Funny how the time had both flown by and yet seemed like forever. In some ways, it felt like Steve's life had truly started that morning and with his fateful mistake. Thank God for late nights and dry eyes and Nat and Peggy having the same taste in Christmas-themed headbands.

Bucky shrugged, toying with something in his coat pocket as he swiped his hat off his head, leaving his hair adorably rumpled. "I'm sure Peg and Nat will swoop in at the last minute, like they always do, looking better and more put together than we ever could be."

Steve chuckled, conceding the point. He would never have Peggy's effortless sense of style, but Bucky seemed to dig his librarian nerd aesthetic, so it wasn't all bad. "Probably, but I'm kinda digging on the ugly Christmas sweater you've got going on," he said, nudging Bucky's side.

"You just like that I'm wearing mistletoe," Bucky replied, with a mischievous grin. 

"I like having the excuse to kiss you," Steve said, leaning in to do just that.

Bucky smiled when they parted, the half-curved fond one that crinkled his eyes and forehead so delightfully. "You know you don't need an excuse, right. My lips are always yours whenever you want them."

Even a year – and hundreds, no, _thousands_ , of kisses – later, Bucky's lips on his still elicited the same thrill as the first time. Only now, there was a seemingly endless variety of them: casual and short, fleeting and soft, long and drugging – each one infused with so much affection and love and the promise of more still to come. Contentment, as warm as hot cocoa by a roaring fire, settled over Steve like a fleece blanket. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of Bucky's kisses, or his casual and frequent references to their future together. 

There were still moments when none of this quite seemed real – that this last year wasn’t just his imagination running amok. No one person had any right to this much happiness, and yet, every single day, Bucky would do something or say something or smile at Steve like he couldn't believe _Steve_ was real either, and Steve's happiness would grow that much larger. And somehow, every single day, Steve managed to find a way to, not only contain that happiness within himself, but make room for more.

But he couldn't articulate any of what he was feeling – he was much better with a storyboard and a worn pencil in his hand than actual words – so he just clasped Bucky's hand, dry and perfect, in his, and leaned in for another soft kiss. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too," Bucky told him, then kissed him again, this one heated enough to fog up Steve's glasses.

"I swear you do that on purpose," Steve lamented, without any real ire behind it, as he fished his cleaning pad of out of his pocket and took his glasses off to clean them. The room instantly went fuzzy, as it always did, Bucky's features blurring into an indistinct mass of dark hair and pale skin.

"Guilty as charged," Bucky said, sounding completely unrepentant.

"I knew it," Steve replied. Bucky seemed to love smudging up Steve's glasses just as much as he loved Steve wearing them in the first place. Which, Steve still thought they made him look like a dork, but who was he to argue if him wearing them got his boyfriend all hot and bothered? 

The overhead speakers started playing the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version of _Little Drummer Boy_ , and Steve smiled, thinking back to his first dance with Bucky in Howard's living room – their first of so many. "Hey," he started, putting the cloth back into his pocket, "you remember –"

But Bucky wasn't paying attention. He was sinking to the floor, for some reason, but he also grabbed onto Steve's fingers, and Steve's smile turned puzzled as he fiddled with putting his glasses back on so he could help with whatever was going on. 

The world swam back into focus, saturating his eyes with color. "Bucky?" he asked, tugging gently on Bucky's ironclad grip as he studied the top of Bucky's head. "You okay?"

Bucky didn't answer, just messed with whatever it was in his coat pocket. The fingers closed over his were trembling, which was also really odd. Steve was about to ask if Bucky was okay again when Bucky finally looked up at him, the expression on his face tense, nervous, the energy pulsing outwards to where their hands were still clasped together. 

"So, uh, you remember our first date, right?" Bucky asked, his normally low, honey-smooth voice cracking a bit at the end.

Steve nodded, mutely. He couldn't stop staring down at Bucky, who was looking up at Steve like Steve was sunlight and Bucky had spent too long in the dark.

"And how we danced our first dance to this song and kissed under the mistletoe and then you took me outside to the balcony, and we spent an hour just making out and talking and...do you remember what I told you that night?"

The puzzle pieces of Bucky's weird behavior coalesced into a whole all at once, startling and mind-blowing, and holy Toledo, Bucky was – 

" _Buck_ ," Steve breathed, incredulous. He started trembling himself, an all over body shiver, his mouth cotton-dry, his eyes widening behind the frames of his glasses.

Bucky squeezed his fingers, and then held up his other hand. Nestled in his palm was a small box, opened to a gleaming platinum band with a small ring of black diamonds circling the center. "I told you –" Bucky's voice cracked again; his beautiful blue-grey eyes luminous and round and filled with so much love Steve felt completely encompassed in it. "I told you that, no matter where we were a year later, I was going to ask you to marry me, and here we are, a year later, and –"

" _Yes_ ," Steve choked out in a rush, his own eyes welling with tears. He couldn't get the words out fast enough. "God, yes, Bucky, of course I will, of _course_ –"

Applause broke around them as Bucky's smile lit up his face, transformed his features from merely beautiful to astonishingly transcendent. "Yeah?" he asked, quiet, inexplicably unsure. Like he thought Steve might change his mind. Which was nuts, because Steve had never been more sure about anything in his entire life.

"Hell yeah," he murmured, reassuring both of them, and held his breath as Bucky worked the band free from the box and slid it onto Steve's ring finger. Steve pulled him up and reeled him in for a hard, long kiss, pouring every single bit of joy he felt into it, certain that no one in the history of the world had ever felt this happy.

"I love you so much, Steve," Bucky said, resting their foreheads together. "From the moment I saw you right here in this Gregory's, I knew you were it for me."

"I love you, too, Buck," Steve replied, and finally registered the crowd that had formed around them. Half of the people looked to be either filming them or at least taking pics, and the other half were still smiling and clapping. He saw Nat and Peggy among them, with their cellphones out, each giving them both a big thumbs up.

Bucky let out a long breath, and his shoulders relaxed. "My mom, she wanted me to wait until Christmas Eve, when our families were all together, but –"

"This is perfect," Steve interrupted, sliding their fingers together again, the ring sparkling, warmed by their hands. "I couldn't imagine anything more perfect than this."

"I had a whole big, sappy speech planned, by the way," Bucky said, smiling at him all goofy and wide, like he couldn't believe this was real, either. "But _someone_ was in a hurry –"

Steve shrugged, unapologetic. "Save it for our wedding day."

Their wedding day. They were getting _married_. Bucky wanted to _marry_ him. Holy hell.

"I will," Bucky promised, and brushed their lips together again, once, twice, before Nat and Peggy threw their arms around both of them, their excited laughter and well-wishes the best sort of music. Bucky kept their fingers twined together as they Facetimed Bucky's parents and then Steve's mom, and he kept leaning in to kiss Steve again and again, like he'd never get enough. Through the windows, Steve could see fat, white flakes falling from the sky, the promise of Christmas snow as magical as ever, but it was nothing compared to the magic Steve felt when he looked into Bucky's eyes.

He couldn't imagine being happier than he was in this moment. But he couldn't wait for the days ahead to prove him wrong.

***

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Steph](https://stephrc79.tumblr.com) for the beta!!
> 
> You can now find me on [Tumblr](https://brendaonao3.tumblr.com)!


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